iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

HEALF. Did more than a 5k on the treadmill today, which is a real accomplishment for my 5' 6", 285 self with hEDS, POTS and chronic migraine. Even managed to keep my HR under 160 the whole time. Last 5-7 years have been *rough* for me, but I finally feel like I can use my body again. #goals

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Truly, my spouse cuts to the heart of the matter of the AI HP sex cult.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Mood. (Credit: www.dumbingofage.com)

A speech bubble coming from outside the left side of a comic panel, reading: "I liked life better before I had to qualify things!"

Two women (Joyce and Ruth) look on.

Credit: Dumbing of Age https://www.dumbingofage.com/

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Honestly this is the best bit: literally p-hacking which average to use and claiming its a good method.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Proof that I am an Old. Dad had an Atari, and after much begging for an NES and SNES, I finally got a Genesis. And yes, I am including my second favorite game from Computer Lab. Super Munchers was peak.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Whenever someone posts something unhinged, remember Girl with no problems.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This is much more damning, but I haven't seen that picture shared.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

One of many. The city closes early in general, but kebab is kebab

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

There's a lot that is depressing in this thread, but this interaction - for all that both Ursula and Paul are wrong about LLMs from opposite directions - is absolutely peak.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I have many questions but this is incredible

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The other component is how many of us with leftist professors learned about the Reagan-Thatcher-Kohl period and all the financial crises of 80-2008. Like, here's the full GINI series - the "neoliberal/consensus" narrative had some power during that period. Not so much anymore.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

One of the other weird things that made me update my priors is that GINI is effectively unchanged since ~2000. Many of the inequality complaints date to the 1980-2000 period and havent been fixed but also havent gotten worse.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Here's mine. Which mostly tracks - I'm originally from Rochester, but have lived in DC, San Diego, and now in Central MA. And have OH/IN extended family. The reality is more granular - my accent is still ~70% Rochester, but I've adopted specific words and pronunciations I like from elsewhere.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Absolutely savage. The below section is central to how Chomsky, more than any other figure, drove the brainrot of the current Left. Simply put, he's a conspiracist who does not know ball, but talks as if he does. There is a reason political scientists and serious activists have long disdained him.

"But in Chomsky’s statements and media appearances, the “propaganda model” has often served as the hammer that turns everything into a nail. Global tragedies become a mere backdrop to showcase the apparently stunning observation that media reflects the views of government and society, and that American foreign policy is not based in purely noble intentions – a point that Chomsky, regardless of what year it is or who his interlocutor may be, has never failed to treat as if it were mind-blowing forbidden knowledge being imparted to a college freshman for the first time."

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

You tend to overstate the case on this one. The "actively looking for work" requirement functionally shifts a fair amount of discouraged workers and involuntary breaks to the LF Participation rate data. There are some good reasons for that, but it does undercoat some, and the under amount varies.

BLS website definition of unemployment, which includes the requirement of "actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks."

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Also, out of curiosity, does @ass.golf follow you? Because this QC strip from last week seems really on point.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Charts showing individual majors. Notably philosophy outperforms all majors on Verbal, LSAT, and the Habits of Mind score, and scores 6th in pluralistic orientation. Directly in the middle of the pack on quantitative.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

The relevant summary chart showing confidence intervals. Notably, philosophy students are almost exactly average at quant, and outperform substantially everywhere else.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Dammit PTerry! By Offler's bloody snaggletooth!

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

It really, really is not. Its above what we would want given the last year of economic prosperity, but the primary driver of debt:gdp increases is economic downturns. Here is FRED historical:

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I really do not understand what is so hard for people here. I get that not everyone is you or Sky or George or me or (insert other economist-type here) but this is literally Wikipedia:

Screenshot of Wikipedia article on Private equity with the following passage highlighted, from the 2nd paragraph of the article:

"Private-equity capital is invested into a target company either by an investment management company (private equity firm), a venture capital fund, or an angel investor; each category of investor has specific financial goals, management preferences, and investment strategies for profiting from their investments."

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I absolutely hate tossing around big number. Can we please just only report debt figures as a % of GDP? US Debt:GDP Ratios are broadly in line with other developed countries, with far lower currency risk, and generally lower interest rates. worldpopulationreview.com/country-rank...

Heat map of Debt to GDP ratios. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/debt-to-gdp-ratio-by-country

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Some context on my thinking. There is a broad problem in our media ecosystem related to hype and sensationalism. It starts from headlines and then migrates into reporting priorities. @propublica.org has long been a bastion against that trend. I worry the cross-filtration of hype corrodes quality.

TT: I don't disagree with this in principle, but I think the recent hype-forward framing of ProPublica articles points in a different, less savory direction. And incentivizes shallow reporting from the organization we need most to be the backbone of good reporting.

CMBridgeman: Their actual articles go deep. The hyped-up media posts are concerning.

TT: Maybe this is a better way of "framing" my worry, heh.

My concern is that.... that's how it starts, and then the higher-ups prioritize the hype more and more. It's a commonly-tread path.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

This one is the real kicker: laziness doesn't pay.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Re: Jamelle's post. Thinking I might make this my next read - it gets excellent academic reviews (unlike the Chang & Halliday bio, which gets compared with Rape of Nanking and Menzies 1421)

Cover Art of "Mao: The Real Story" by Pantsov and Levine.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Nevermind the largest libraries in the US...

NY Public Library: 21.9 million print, 25.3 million total
Cincinnati PL: 4.9 million print, 11.7 million total
Boston PL: 8 million print, 8.2 million total.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

LMAO. This is so on brand I had to post the image, never change.

"Buttadeus followed you back"

"Buttadeus liked your post: 'It's gotta be better than that "Private Lessons" Heero/Duo slashfic I read in HS back on FF.net'"

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Only result I found that really matched after a Google- but the place is in Chatanooga, so they are probably quite good.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Lol. This is academic for "go back to Freshman writing, Milt. Non-contradiction is still a thing."

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Here is total, not prime age, size of labor force. The YoY change for all categories is around -1%, not good, but also coming off two-decade post-COVID highs.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Greg, your own article says Dems are not letting her get away with it. Either we are all on the same side, or you are being a sensationalist and manufacturing disagreement where there is none. Or both, which is honestly the M.O. of TNR these days.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Once again, Read Theory for fuck's sake.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I am once again begging people to read theory. The normalization of atrocities, by the leader, is central to the reversal of normal moral value that enables totalitarianism to function. We are saved by the fact that these people are total dogshit at both organization and committing to the cult.

Cover of Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

This dog. Does not believe I should be able to move.

A white and brown spotted mutt laying half off her dog bed so she can be directly underneath a rolling Herman Miller Aeron chair.

Seriously, its like she wants me to step on her.

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Third Thoughts @thirdthoughts.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

12axes.vercel.app - not a bad quiz overall, although the questions could be a bit more situation-specific. But I like the way it seperates out the economic questions - there's a difference in this quiz between Fabian socialist responses and more hardcore-statist ones and worker democracy ones.

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